My very own EverCool Variable!

[j21blackjack]

I can't thank BigBlue30 enough, and a couple of others on the other evercool thread for the help and answering my questions. Took me all of about 5 hours to get everything together. Soldering the POT upside down was a major PITA, but well worth it to be able to adjust the voltage externally on the fly. The thing is so tight inside, I don't plan on using any epoxy at all, just a little dab of super glue on the LEDs. I can't convince my box to close the last half a millimeter, but who cares, I've got one kick @#$ variable voltage box. Best $30 I've spent so far in my ecig journey.

I measured my output voltage (unloaded) at 3.5 - 6.0 volts with freshly charged batteries.

Here she is:

Atty connector:

Green "Power On" Go Light

Red "Fire" Light

 

[dshack]

Very nice looking mod! Great work.

 

[5cardstud]

Looking good. I hate vaping now without being able to adjust the voltage. You did a great job on it.

 

[debb]

Very Cool!!!

 

[o4_srt]

looks good! what pot did you use?

 

[WillyB]

Nice job.

Couldn't you find any thicker wire?

 

[BuzzKill]

Good work , welcome to variable voltage vaping, hey the " VVV "

 

[j21blackjack]

looks good! what pot did you use?

That's a 200 ohm thumb wheel POT. I had to solder it in with the leads coming out on the non-copper side. The POT actually blocks half of the PCB, so I had to solder everything else onto the board first, then solder the POT in.

Couldn't you find any thicker wire?

Well, BigBlue30 used 20awg wire on his, so I decided I would try it too. It is some mighty thick wire to work with. If I had used the 26awg wire that came with the box, then things would have fit much easier, but it wouldn't look as impressive.

 

[j21blackjack]

You can't see it in the pictures, but I actually broke pin 1 on the chips on accident. Guess I came pretty close to ruining the whole thing. This happened because I soldered the chip in before I bent the pins down. When I soldered it I didn't leave enough slack to be able to bend it down flat with the board.

 

[asdaq]

Looks nice indeed. And thanks, as you got me to get off my duff and actually order that free sample

It doesn't look so cramped judging by components, but that thick wire was probably a challenge.

 

[bigblue30]

J21blackjack,

Very nice and clean job. I think you will be very happy with it.

How coarse is the adjustment with that POT. I am going to try that one next. The first one might end up as a gift to someone..

 

[j21blackjack]

Not sure on how coarse the adjustment is, I only checked the low and high end. I would need a third hand to turn the wheel while I hold the leads on the connector. I guess I really should make myself a load tester, I've got plenty of old attys to do it with.

 

[bigblue30]

Not sure on how coarse the adjustment is, I only checked the low and high end. I would need a third hand to turn the wheel while I hold the leads on the connector. I guess I really should make myself a load tester, I've got plenty of old attys to do it with.

Like one if these..

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/battery-mods/115651-5-50-voltmeter-load-checker.html

 

[Bubo]

Sa-weet!
Glad to see you got it all put together!

What is keeping the lid from closing all of the way? The switch? (In a AA box, I would think that it'd fit.. THose are 14450s aren't they?)
The chip?
The big ... wires?

 

[j21blackjack]

There's nothing blocking the box lid so I don't know what's keeping it from closing all the way. I think it may actually be something wrong with box itself. Either way, it closes enough to stand vertical, so it' good enough for me.

 

[Scubabatdan]

That's a 200 ohm thumb wheel POT. I had to solder it in with the leads coming out on the non-copper side. The POT actually blocks half of the PCB, so I had to solder everything else onto the board first, then solder the POT in.



Well, BigBlue30 used 20awg wire on his, so I decided I would try it too. It is some mighty thick wire to work with. If I had used the 26awg wire that came with the box, then things would have fit much easier, but it wouldn't look as impressive.

Nice Job! One question to clarify, you said a 200 ohms POT, did you not mean a 200K POT as recommended?
Excellent job, working on mine now but with a touch switch, LED and custom board with SMD caps and resistors.
Dan

 

[o4_srt]

Nice Job! One question to clarify, you said a 200 ohms POT, did you not mean a 200K POT as recommended?
Excellent job, working on mine now but with a touch switch, LED and custom board with SMD caps and resistors.
Dan

schematic in the original post has a 200 ohm listed. Is this incorrect?

Theoretically, if one would cut the value of the pot in half (to 100, or 100k, whichever it is), one could halve the value of the other resistor to accomplish the same thing, correct?

If it does turn out to be 200k, I ordered the wrong part, but we have a ton of 100k trimmers at work.

 

[bigblue30]

schematic in the original post has a 200 ohm listed. Is this incorrect?

Theoretically, if one would cut the value of the pot in half (to 100, or 100k, whichever it is), one could halve the value of the other resistor to accomplish the same thing, correct?

If it does turn out to be 200k, I ordered the wrong part, but we have a ton of 100k trimmers at work.

Sorry j21blackjack for filling up your post.....

200 OHM is correct for this chip (PTR08100W ). It does not work like the ucc383.

The "control" resistor goes between pin 3 and 4 only. There is no R1,R2 like in the ucc383.

The 220 ohm fixed is there to make sure that the control never goes lower than 220 ohms.

From the spec sheet:

5.5 volts =241 ohms

4.0 volts = 347 ohms

3.0 volots = 491 ohms

As you can see....as the res. goes down, the output goes up.

 

[WillyB]

There's nothing blocking the box lid so I don't know what's keeping it from closing all the way. I think it may actually be something wrong with box itself. Either way, it closes enough to stand vertical, so it' good enough for me.

Check these two areas.

 

[Scubabatdan]

schematic in the original post has a 200 ohm listed. Is this incorrect?

Theoretically, if one would cut the value of the pot in half (to 100, or 100k, whichever it is), one could halve the value of the other resistor to accomplish the same thing, correct?

If it does turn out to be 200k, I ordered the wrong part, but we have a ton of 100k trimmers at work.

Thank for the correction BB, I was think of the ucc383 chip (brain fart on my end) LOL
sorry about the confusion.
Dan